Almost immediately after the flood waters
subsided, a coalition of engineers and resource specialists
from the national park service, the California Department
of Transportation (Caltrans), the Nevada Paving Corporation,
and an alliance of private and governmental agencies began
the time-consuming process of finding a way to work together
and rebuild the damaged highway in a manner that would protect
the natural resources and still restore this badly needed
road as quickly as possible. According to Tom Hallenbeck,
the district director for Caltrans in charge of this project,
an emergency declaration by California's governor enabled
them to reopen this road within months -- years faster than
would normally be possible in today's permit-intensive road
construction climate.

The road was opened to the public on April
29, 2005, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by
many of the contractors and national park service employees
who worked on the project over the last eight months. Nearly
thirteen miles were reconstructed and over three miles of
rock-filled wire cages were constructed to help protect the
road against further erosion and the floods that will without
a doubt return someday. The cost of this labor-intensive project,
which is still not quite complete, is expected to exceed $10
million.

Reflecting the spirit of cooperation among
agencies the project required, J.T Reynolds, the Superintendent
of Death Valley National Park, pledged his commitment to continue
to find the ways and means to protect and enhance the park.
Noted local singer-guitarist Phyllis Nefsky led the entire
group in customized versions of well-known road songs like
"On the Road Again," "King of the Road,"
and "Take Me Home Desert Road." Furnace Creek Inn
manager Toni Jepson provided food and refreshingly cold drinking
water -- temperatures in Death Valley are already high by
the end of April -- for all attendees. This included two dozen
or so tourists who just happened to arrive during the ceremony,
little realizing what an historic event they were witnessing.
The climax of the ceremony was, of course, the ribbon cutting
itself, achieved with a pair of oversized scissors painted
Day-Glo orange. With that, the road was open, and an eager
group of motorcyclists roared past as soon as the last barricade
was moved aside.

Because construction is still not quite complete,
a pilot car will be taking caravans of vehicles through the
one-lane construction areas for the next few weeks. We waited
about 35 minutes for our turn. As we drove along the familiar
route, it was amazing to see how many repairs had been necessary,
and to note the innovative techniques that have been employed
to resist erosion. It will be interesting to see how long
Mother Nature lets this "new & improved" road
stay in place.